New trouble between Donald and Melania Trump

Melania Trump had kidney surgery yesterday for a worsening medical condition. She’ll be hospitalized for the rest of the week, but by all accounts, she’s going to be fine. The trouble: this incident has served as the latest sign that her marriage with Donald Trump is anything but fine – and there’s a political reason you should care about this.

Melania’s surgery is being characterized in the mainstream media as a “serious medical procedure.” Yet Donald Trump didn’t bother to show up for it. We know this because, after it was over, he tweeted this: “Heading over to Walter Reed Medical Center to see our great First Lady, Melania. Successful procedure, she is in good spirits. Thank you to all of the well-wishers!” CNN has since confirmed on-air that Donald was indeed at the White House during the surgery. So what was he doing?

Donald Trump was doing basically nothing. We checked his official publicly available schedule for the day. There was very little on it, as per usual, and the few items on it could easily have been rescheduled. In other words, Donald could have been at the hospital during Melania’s surgery, but he chose not to be. It’s only a twenty-five minute drive from the White House to Walter Reed. He could have gotten there in a Marine One helicopter ride in just a couple minutes, so it’s not as if she was three states away and he couldn’t have gotten there for the surgery.

There are only two possible explanations here. One is that Donald Trump couldn’t be bothered to go to a nearby hospital while his wife was having serious surgery. The other is that Melania didn’t want him there. When it comes to their failing marriage, each explanation is as dire as the other. Even if you don’t care about the fate of their marriage, keep in mind that Trump is overwhelmed by scandal and easily distracted. As his marriage continues to fall apart, it can only serve to make it that much more difficult to focus on fending off his criminal scandals.